Create an OC, For duty, for pride, for survival
by CO Raven
Summary: The Council of 46 has declared war on the quincys, claiming that it is to save both the Soul Society and the living world. Some question this and the turmoil spurs a massive war. OC applications are still open. The 5th real chapter is up.
1. Ground Rules

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Tite Kubo does.

Well, it seems that a lot of OC submittal fics are floating about, so I'll join the party. The first chapter shall be for OC applications with Ch2 as a list of positions and profiles. Ch 3 and all that follow being the actual story. I'm foregoing the urge to write a background here as that cuts my options later. This way it can better cater to your characters. Also, the Soul Society/Seireitei and the Council of 46 will order the extermination of the quincys.

--

Let's lay some ground rules, though.

1) No "God" characters. Of course, this has a small leeway for high positions like the soutaicho or 1st espada.

2) The OC must be a hollow, shinigami, quincy, or a hybrid such as but not limited to vizards and arrancar.

3) OCs with a decent amount of thought put into them will be prefered. The more detail you can give me, the more often he or she will show up. If you don't give me much to work with, I will ask for more or the character won't have as much page space.

4) You may only submit three OCs to encourage more detail. In some cases, I will allow four, but you'd have to give me a really good reason and a lot of detail.

5) The application will be laid out in the following format.

Name:

Race: (as in shinigami, vizard, etc.)

Respect in whatever faction: (rated as a scale of 1-10 with 10 as the best. A one is treated like dirt. A 4 is the average respect a vice captain gets. A seven is the respect an average captain gets. A ten is near worshipped by some.)

Age: (visual age)

Height:

Build or weight:

Eyes:

Hair: (style and color)

Clothes: (be detailed)

Mask: (what does it look like if applicable)

Hole: (where is it if applicable)

Personality: (Include what types of people they would get along with or not get along with. Also include whether the OC is a regular user of colorful language or not.)

Likes:

Dislikes:

Zanpakuto: (name of bow if a quincy)

Shikai: (For quincys, sanrei shuto mastered or not. For arrancar, resureccion)

Bankai: (For quincys, final form mastered or not)

Zanpakuto personality: (optional)

Strengths: (tell me the degree of how strong your OC is in that area too)

Weaknesses: (If there are a bunch of strengths, this list had better balance it out)

Habits: (optional but suggested)

Position: (rank, division, etc. Does not apply for quincys or vizards. If espada, where's the number? I will ask you to change if it is taken.)

Bio/History: This is optional, but I will fill in the blanks if you don't. The results may not be pretty.

6) First come, first served.

7) If the story takes a turn where a character would probably die, I will ask the creator if it is okay first. If the answer is yes, the OC will go in a blaze of glory, may be replaced by another and may possibly be shown favor as the creator isn't clingy.

8) The position of 12th division captain is taken, but hardly anyone signs up for that one anyway. If a position is vacant for too long, I will fill it. However, it will still be open for application. If someone wants it, my character will die and be replaced.

9) Everyone has an equal chance to look stupid or do stupid things. What can happen to you may very well happen to someone else, only ten times worse down the road. Those that take this well are rewarded later on. (This applies to real life too)

10) Come on and sign up. I update fairly quickly. Stick around. This is going to get long and fast. (so provided that people help)


	2. Squad position list

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Tite Kubo does.

This is the position list. It is here for reference purposes as some find it useful. This way, it is easy to check before applying for a particular position. If someone moves spots, they changed their official affiliation.

Shinigami

1st Division taicho:

1st Division fukutaicho:

1st other

2nd taicho: Hattori Tokito (aka Kitsune)

2nd fukutaicho: Sarutobi Akira

2nd other:

3rd taicho: Kinshiro Nagataka

3rd fukutaicho: Oshiro Yori

3rd other:

4th taicho: Singingsun Leylalune

4th fukutaicho:

4th other:

5th taicho: Hinata Fuji

5th fukutaicho:

5th other:

6th taicho: Pandemonium "crazy eyes" Inuzaka

6th fukutaicho:

6th other:

7th taicho: Teken Entei

7th fukutaicho:

7th other:

8th taicho:

8th fukutaicho:

8th other:

9th taicho: Night Morpheus

9th fukutaicho:

9th other:

10th taicho:

10th fukutaicho:

10th other:

11th taicho: Kobayashi Naomi

11th fukutaicho:

11th other:

12th taicho: Kanzaki Raven (but may be stripped of his title or killed if someone wants the position)

12th fukutaicho: Ito Hanabi

12th other:

13th taicho: Howell 'Howie' Kato

13th fukutaicho:

13th other:

Council of 46

Motochika Chosokabe

Vizards

Zengyi (Zen for short)

Himaru Rikai

Maru Botan

Arrancar

1st espada:

2nd espada: Oshiro Daitaro

3rd espada:

4th espada:

5th espada: Dart Poison

6th espada:

7th espada:

8th espada:

9th espada:

10th espada: Furia Locura

Fraccion

Hime

Exequias

Privarion

Numeros

Other hollows

Quincys

Honda Hidetada

Komatsu Ina

Oboro Kamata

Izumi Garasha

Takeda Sora

Oda Kenichi

Uesugi Biri

Miyamoto Kiyoshi

--

This will be updated as I receive more OCs


	3. So much for a quiet morning

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Raven Kanzaki belongs to me. All the others belong to Kiryu Kensei or YoukuPazu I thank you for your contribution.

For those who don't know, a shitagi the outer part of the shikashuho or shinigami uniform. A kosode is the inside. For those who didn't know, don't feel too bad. I had to look it up.

Sorry for the delay. I had to write a paper. Let's begin, eh?

--

Kinshiro Nagataka strode into the 12th division compound with his usual emotionless façade plastered on his face. Very familiar with such visits, every member of the 12th instantly parted to make way for the taicho of the 3rd. It was rather odd as Kinshiro wasn't a bully of any sort. His division loved him, and he had a world of patience. He had only snapped once when a certain new recruit had called him short for the millionth time. A moment later, the recruit had ended up pinned to the ground by the force of Kinshiro's reiatsu. Since then, every member was drilled in the concept of parting at the sight of a golden shitagi. They soon learned to watch for the golden blonde French braid too. Kinshiro slid open the door to the taicho's office.

"Good morning, Raven-san," Kinshiro greeted warmly as he took a seat opposite of the 12th taicho. He came nearly every morning for current events and tea. As the 12th division taicho, Raven Kanzaki almost always knew what was going on long before anyone else did, even the Secret Mobile Corps. Of course, it helped that he made knowing his business. It also so happened that Raven's office was the home of the best chai tea in the Gotei 13. That was more than enough to keep Kinshiro coming back time and time again.

"So what's new today?" Kinshiro asked since Raven hadn't even said a word yet. In fact, he looked extremely stressed. He ran a hand through his spiky purple hair and pushed his rectangular framed glasses back into place.

"The Council of 46 has declared war on the quincys. The official memo is probably going to come in a few days," Raven said quietly as he poured some tea, sliding the cup across the table. Then he poured one for himself.

"The arrancar are showing signs of increased activity. We can't afford to needlessly split out forces like that," Kinshiro commented as he pulled up his kosode's sleeves so he could hold his tea properly.

"I'm afraid it's much worse than that. The arrancar aren't just active. They're organized. The old espada may be back again, possibly new ones too," Raven added quietly as he sipped his tea.

"You know what's going on in the Council of 46 and in Las Noches. Just where do you get that kind of information?" Kinshiro asked suspiciously. Raven stared blankly, trying to come up with a good explanation. He was bailed out as his door was busted down by Teken Entei, the hotheaded 5th division taicho. On his shoulder was Hinata Fuji, the quiet 5th division taicho. She was holding something small and white in her right arm and was attempting to push back Teken's wild blue hair with her left. Teken grabbed Raven by the collar and hoisted himself up to face level.

"Is it so hard to find peace these days?" Kinshiro complained.

"Shut yer trap, shrimp!" Teken snapped at Kinshiro who drew himself up to his full five foot, two inch glory.

"Hey, hey, take it easy," Raven chided after he had tried and failed to squirm his way out of Teken's iron grip. He received a glare and shrunk back.

"What's the deal with giving Hinata that… thing?! You know what happened the last time the Council of 46 found out she had one," Teken raged as he shook the much lighter framed taicho of the 12th.

"First off, it's a baby Siberian tiger in soul form, not a thing," Raven corrected, "Also, the 46 is going to let her keep it this time. They want to keep all of us happy before they tell us we're going to war with the quincys."

Teken angrily dropped Raven to the floor.

"Since when?! Either you tell me and quick or I'll drag you to the courtyard for a little spar," Teken thundered as he cracked his knuckles. Raven gulped.

"Be nice, Teken. He'll never tell you anything when you shout like that," Hinata advised quietly.

"He will when I break him in two!"

When Teken looked back, Raven was already out the door. The 7th division taicho unsheathed his massive six foot long zanpakuto and gave chase. Kinshiro just shook his head. That made the 1000th crazy morning in a row, a new record.

--

That's all for the moment. Make an OC and join the fun.


	4. This is the Seireitei

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. I own Raven Kanzaki. I don't own any of the other OCs. They belong to Kiryu Kensei or YokuPazu.

Since there aren't enough characters in this story, the max character count will be moved up to three. This will really spice up once a few more people join in. In the meantime, a filler for your entertainment shall be provided.

--

A crash resounded across the Seireitei, followed by another and another. Teken brought down his zanpakuto for the umpteenth time. The pavement shattered, leaving yet another crater and sending out a shockwave that knocked all the unseated shinigami clean off their feet. As the smoke cleared, Raven was again seen fleeing over a rooftop.

"Tsk, what a coward!" Teken complained as he shunpoed off to give chase. Raven mentally counted up all the damage. So far, this insanity had wrecked ten walls, two barracks, three streets, one gate- CRASH!!- and now one division office. At least is was Teken's, but this really had to end. Whirling around, Raven leveled his palm with Teken's face.

"Hadou 63: Raikouhou! (Lightning Tiger Cannon, I think)

A burst of blue lightning erupted from Raven's palm. Teken blocked with his zanpakuto and burst forward to continue the pursuit. He blinked. Raven was gone. Looking around at his wrecked office, he groaned. The 7th was definitely over their budget this month.

On a roof several hundred feet away, Raven breathed a sigh of relief. Boy was he glad he'd built that reiatsu concealing feature into his cloak.

"Aiya… St least Kinshiro won't be as mad at me as he was last time," Raven commented to no one in particular. The truth was that last time…

-- About nine months ago –

Kinshiro was on his usual stroll atop the 3rd division roof with Raven close behind.

"With all due respect, Kanzaki-san, I refuse to go anywhere near your division," Kinshiro insisted, "Every time I do, someone attacks, and emergency meeting is called, there's an explosion in the lab, or something else of equivalent chaos occurs."

Raven stared at his friend, then at the numerous kido barriers surrounding the compound, then at the now ten foot thick wall that barred off access to anywhere in 3rd division territory. A single locked gate with several dozen guards was the only entrance. The windows were barred, and it seriously looked more like a prison than a division. It wasn't just for show either. Though quite the master of kido himself, he'd almost gotten turned to dust on the way in when he tried to jump the wall like usual.

"Don't you think this is a bit… excessive? You're being really paranoid," Raven questioned.

"Of course it is necessary. There hasn't been a quiet morning in over two years," Kinshiro replied, giving Raven a stony look.

"Come on, we just had a little explosion in the lab," Raven said with a slight smile, "No casualties."

"Little? There was a crater where a quarter of your division once stood. How there are no casualties will always be a mystery to me," Kinshiro replied in an exasperated tone, "How do you continually pay for those explosions?"

"The 12th division is the compound of the Bureau of Research and Development. It only makes sense to use their funds to repair the building," Raven replied with a smile. Seriously, the man had an answer for almost everything. It was just that when he didn't, trouble almost always followed. It was feasible too as the Bureau got so much money for research.

There was a rumble in the distance. Kinshiro looked over and saw an approaching dust cloud. Raven smoothed back his hair.

"You know what happens when you make a fortress or have anything strong, right?" Raven asked. Looking closer at the dust cloud, reality dawned on the 3rd division taicho.

"I basically sent the 11th an invitation and rolled out the red carpet," he replied in a mortified voice as he stared blankly into the distance.

"Your division will be a red carpet if we don't scram. My place?" Raven offered.

"No way-" Kinshiro started. There was a low whistling sound. He was yanked to the side and saw a blast shatter the kido barrier and make a huge dent in the wall.

"Actually, I think I'll come," Kinshiro said quickly. If he left, the 11th would follow. Being much faster, he and Raven could easily lose them. As another blast took down the wall, they were off. There was no escaping the insanity. Still, chaos with tea was better than chaos without tea.

-- Back to present—

Thinking back, Raven smirked. This was the place known to many as Heaven or the Court of Pure Souls. This was the Seireitei and everything that it entailed.

--

Seriously, this was a filler. The restrictions are loosened a bit. Please send some OCs, readers. This could be awesome if there were more than a handful of characters.


	5. We have now comitted political suicide

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, nor do I own the OCs that belong to Kiryu Kensei, Jhard53, Yokupazu, Kermit's sister, and Astonish

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, nor do I own the OCs that belong to Kiryu Kensei, Jhard53, Yokupazu, Kermit's sister, and Astonish. Kanzaki Raven belongs to me.

Sorry for the wait. I had a paper to write. Sadly, I will also be delayed until Friday due to summer school, so this chapter is a bit short. I promise something more substantial next weekend.

--

As Raven shunpoed back to the 12th, a pair of eyes followed, covered by the shadow of a white hood. It was Sarutobi Akira, the fukutaicho of the 2nd division, assigned to watch the shady taicho of the 12th. The secret mobile corps hardly trusted anyone anymore, wary of any kind of conspiracy, whether it was real or phantom. Akira hurried along, making sure to keep the scientist in sight. With the reiatsu concealing cloak, it would be hard to find him again if he fell off radar. Raven turned his head slightly, making eye contact for a brief moment. Then he was gone, without a trace. Akira came out of hiding and down to ground level. There was nothing, not even footprints.

"Hattori-taicho was right. That man needs to be watched or better yet moved to the Maggot's Nest," Akira mused to himself as he shunpoed off to find his taicho. Hopefully she'd be at the office. He really didn't want to go scouring the Rukongai. There was a ring. Akira flipped open his soul pager. It was his taicho.

"Where are you?! Kanzaki has been sighted in the living world!" screeched Hattori Tokito. Akira muttered an apology and hurried off. No matter how fast the shunpo, there was no way a shinigami could make it so far in such a short time. Ten minutes later, he'd gotten to the living world and a fix on Raven's location. He looked up from the live feed tracking system on his soul pager. In front of him was an ice cream shop. Hearing a crash and a crash and a huge scramble, he walked in. This was what he'd been waiting for…

"Waddaya mean, there's no mint left?!"

Akira froze on the spot as the weight of reiatsu descended on him. In front of the counter stood Kobayashi Naomi, the wiry, mood swing happy 11th division taicho. Though only 5'5" and rather odd even by shinigami standards, she was not one to mess with. By odd, he was referring to the fact that she'd ditched the top half of her shikashuho in favor of a white tank top over a white one. Then there was the fact that she was the only taicho in the history of the 11th that was usually polite. Of course, this didn't apply when that politeness didn't get her what she wanted. This usually happened when something became between her and her favorite foods or a new technique that she wanted to learn. The manager was cowering in a corner. That weasel, Kanzaki Raven was next to her, patting her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but we're completely out," the manager croaked, "If you want, you can eat here for free as our apology."

"Now, now, let's just go someplace else. We don't want to make any trouble…" Raven chided. A teenager with spiky brown hair and a navy blue gakuran called over from a table.

"Take it easy. Raven here's a friend of mine. I've got the last bowl of mint ice cream here. You can have it if you want," he offered. Naomi's eyes lit up, then looked over at Raven guiltily, almost as if to ask if it was okay. She really didn't want it if the kid was offering out of pity. She received a nod and instantly jumped at the bowl of ice cream. Akira's eyebrow twitched. So much for finding something he could call a conspiracy. The idiot was taking people out for ice cream.

"Now, now, I'd appreciate it if you stopped following me, Akira-san. You've been at my tail for days. I just promised Naomi I'd take her to the best ice cream shop in the living world, but I couldn't with the Secret Mobile Corps breathing down my back," Raven said, rubbing the back of his head.

"You mock me. Entei-taicho was chasing you across the Seireitei just 15 minutes ago." Akira replied venomously.

"That's not possible. He's been with me for almost a half hour. Now shoo," Naomi said, waving him off like a fly as she took a bite of the delicious mint chocolate chip ice cream.

"You- but you-" Akira stammered.

"Oh. About that, I wasn't really there. Watch this."

Raven closed his eyes and made a few hand gestures and stepped away. An exact double of himself still stood in place, perfect down to every detail.

"I picked this up in the living world and modified it a bit to give my double movement. There's no way I'm teaching the SMC this one, no way." Raven added, shaking his head like an idiot. With a wave of his hand, his double faded. Akira left, looking extremely flustered. Raven checked his soul pager.

"Aiya… Look at the time. I've got to be going now. Thanks, Biri, for sharing with my friend here."

Raven shook Biri's hand, slipping him a folded piece of paper. Then he gave a slight bow and walked out. The SMC was really going to get serious now. Biri walked out right behind him while Naomi waved goodbye and took another bite of the ice cream.

--

With the note, Biri walked back to his house and went inside.

"Biri, you're back. Did you get it?"

Before him stood Takeda Sora, the cheerful, ever smiling girl that had opened her house up to several of her friends, Biri being one of them. Her black ponytail bobbed up and down as she walked over and gave him a hug. Both looked up at the sound of chewing. There stood a tanned teen with spiky golden hair. In his hand was a large platter with a couple of strawberries on it.

"Oda Kenichi, you pig! That platter was full two minutes ago!" Sora screeched.

"I'm growing," the teen replied as he popped another strawberry into his mouth. Sora's eye twitched. The last strawberry went down the hatch just as Kenichi was glomped from behind, his face smashed into the massive chest of Izumi Garasha, the blonde haired emerald eyed quincy known for her... vibrant displays. In surprise, Kenichi hurled the platter up into the air where it came down and landed on the head of Hidetada Honda. He was less than amused as the sticky strawberry juice seeped into his navy blue hair. The platter fell to the floor with a clang.

"That was extremely uncalled for."

Kenichi figured that now would be a pretty good time to run. Biri stowed the note in his pocket, deciding it could wait. It could be read any time. Entertainment like this was rather rare.

--

In Soul Society, Akira had reported back to Tokito. Now they were stuck searching the old records for any shinigami that could use doppelganger abilities. Finally, Akira triumphantly held up a dusty black folder.

"Zengyi, the original head of the SMC!" he exclaimed.

"Fool. Taichos don't retire. The only ways out are to die and to be promoted to the Royal Guard. Even that weasel Kanzaki doesn't have those kinds of connections."

"The file here says that he became a vizard and fled Soul Society." Akira continued.

"Where is he now?"

"Well, we don't know. He's in the living world, but that's it. Vizards are hunted down if they're ever found, but the problem is that he's impossible to track. The file says that the last time we saw him was a century ago."

Tokito got up.

"Well I'm off. Report to me when you find him."

"Sure, sure- Wait a sec!"

Too late. Tokito was far away by now. Akira cursed his luck and began to make some calls. Even with half the SMC searching, this would probably take a long time.

--

Back in the 3rd, Kinshiro's eye twitched. His division was in shambles. Inuzaka Pandemonium, the ball of energy taicho of the 6th was on the loose, tearing apart any sense of order left in the Gotei 13. Her anbu armor meant that stopping her would probably be just as disastrous as her rampage The stuff was almost unbreakable unless he wanted to loose his bankai. Besides, breaking the armor would basically be declaring war with the 6th, an action that would guarantee a lack of peace and quiet for at least the next 1000 years. At least for the moment the ball of energy and trouble only came around once a week or so. She usually started on Sunday in the 1st and made her way around causing pandemonium for one division at a time, one in the afternoon, and one at night. Then she'd cause more chaos for the 2nd and 3rd on Saturday. Well, sometimes it was the 12th instead of the 2nd, but it seemed like the 3rd was never left out. Kinshiro walked back to his office and took a sip of his tea to calm his nerves. His face turned bright red.

"Cayenne," Kinshiro seethed. It wasn't that he couldn't take the heat, but it just ruined the mood. When did she get to his tea anyway? Worse, she'd just raided the SMC last night. What else might she have put in it? Pandemonium walked in, followed by a trail of smoke. Screams could be heard outside. Seriously, there was nothing around the division to burn. Wait-

"The bonsai garden!"

Kinshiro took off to see his carefully nurtured and trimmed garden up in flames. He could almost cry.

"Ban-kai! Yukitora Zanshiro."

Kinshiro's broadsword turned into a heaven and earth blade. Everyone in the vicinity scrammed. No one really knew what it did. The flames went out. The zanpakuto was resealed, and Kinshiro went back inside. Numerous shinigami looked back in surprise, having expected to see a war between Kinshiro and Pandemonium. It wasn't like he cared. Problem solved and he even got a little peace when everyone ran away… but how dare she attack his garden?! Next time his defenseless garden wouldn't be so defenseless. Next time, it was going to fight back.

"Now where did Raven slink off to? He's got some inventing to do."

A hell butterfly landed on Kinshiro's fist, bearing a message.

"WHAT?! They're going after Zengyi?! Great… We're committing suicide."

Kinshiro shook his head. First it was Hueco Mundo, then the quincys, and now they were basically declaring war on the vizards. This was really not going to end well.

--

Again, sorry for the wait. I'm now done with summer school, so I can really get moving.


	6. The chase begins

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. I don't own the Ocs owned by Kermit's sister, jhard 53, Leylalune SingingSun, Pandaemonium Inuzaka, dark 672, kiryu kensei, and youko pazu.

To jhard53 and Leylalune SingingSun, and Pandemonium inuzaka, I need a name for your ocs zanpakutos or a pair of releses that have something to match and call a name before either character will see serious battle. To Leylalune, hair color would also be appreciated.

On another note, I will be opening up three spots on the council of 46. Each person may submit onl one of these. Now on with the story.

--

Morpheus rolled over in his 1,000,000,000 yen bed, so graciously given to him by the Council of 46. Pulling a pillow over his head, he tried and failed to block out the sound of chaos coming from halfway across the Seireitei. He was Morpheus Night, the little known taicho of the 9th division. This was mostly due to his atrcious sleeping habits. Since he usually slept for three quarters of a day or more, quite a few shinigami didn't even know he existed. The younger taichos didn't think much of him either for the same reason. Still, he had been rather uneasy when the 46 sent him such an expensive bed. Sure, he liked it, but those old geezers were extremely frugal. Not one yen had ever been squeezed out of them unless it was for bribing someone. It was obvious that they were going towar, but with whom? Slipping on his haori, he walked out the door, right past the bathroom. There was a good reason why he kept his brown hair short and spiky. It was low maintenance. Thinking about where to go for answers, he settled on Kinshiro. Raven was always the one with the newest scoop, but he always had his own personal agenda, or so it seemed.

"So, Morpheus, you want to know about the war," called a voice from behind him. He whirled around to see Leylalune SingingSun, the seer taicho of the 4th. Gauging from the way she was holding her head, Mrpheus could only assume that she'd had a vision that her ofafa bandages couldn't block out.

"Was it a vision about the war?" Morpheus asked. Leylalune didn't look surprised at all.

"The war with the hollows is a given, but we'll also be at war with the quincys and possibly the vizards."

"I see… So what do you plan to do about it? I hope you'll let me in on it so I can help out a bit," Morpheus offered. The conversation was interrupted when an SMC agent fell from the roof and landed on the ground with a splat.

"You know its not nice to eavesdrop!"

Yes. Pandemonium was back from messing with… whoever and she was now happily sitting on top of the spy twitching on the ground. A burst of reiatsu flooded across the grounds. Kinshiro's. Morpheus looked up and saw the huge column of smoke coming from the 3rd. How was that possible? Nothing could burn there except-

"You didn't-"

"She did."

"I set Kin-chan's garden on fire! He was so funny!" Pandemonium squealed. The spy tried to get up and was promptly booted into the horizon. Leylalune left without a word, and Morpheus didn't try to follow. It was unlikely that he'd get anywhere trying to force answers out of her. It didn't matter, though. She'd ask for helped if she needed it, right? Somehow, it just didn't seem reassuring. Perhaps it would be best to wait a day or so and then ask Kinshiro. Raven always had the latest scoop and talked about it during his morning tea session with a few of the taichos, Kinshiro being one of the regulars.

Meanwhile, Kinshiro was busily putting up barricades around his bonsai gardens. At this point, he didn't care about the possible 11th division related reprocussions. This barrier wouldn't just protect the gardens. It would lash out at any fool stupid enough to come close without disbling a portion of it first. His work, however, was being interrupted by Akira who was questioning him about Raven and anything the scientist might have said at their morning tea session. It all boiled down to whether Raven was working with the vizards or not, a stupid question. Did they take him for stupid? Raven wouldn't tell anyone about something that could earn himself execution unless he was sure that it wasn't going to leave the room. The quincys weren't the vizards, and Kinshiro had no qualms with not reporting that since a successful venture could stop a war before it even began.

"I told you, no vizards were mentioned during this morning's tea session, nor have they ever been mentioned," Kinshiro fumed, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some barriers to finish putting up."

Akira didn't take the hint or understand that he had no authority to force the matter without Hattori. Kinshiro knew for a fact that she was somewhere off in the 66th Rukongai district, playing with some random kids. Without her written approval, a formalized investigation couldn't begin, the only kind that Kinshiro even had to listen to. Being a taicho had priveledges.

--

In the living world, the wrath of Hidetada Honda had finally come to a close. Kenichi was six feet under, not dead but he wished he was. He had been beaten and buried and he was sure that something really heavy was on top of him. His head was left sticking out so he could breathe and eat, but no other luxuries were given. Now that the fun was over, Biri produced the note from Raven and gave it to Hidetada. It was opened and promptly crumpled up. From there, it was burned. It was unlikely that the contents of the note were even seen other than the name.

"Are you sure this is wise, Hona? Kanzaki did hammer out a fragile peace between the shinigami and the quincy last time," Biri asked.

"Well, the shinigami are showing signs of agression now. Evidently, he failed miserably."

The other quincys glared at him angrily. What if it had been a meeting requst or some other important information? Reading it couldn't hurt. Hidetada read them all too easily.

"If you fools are thinking it was a message asking for a meeting, it very well could have been a trap. I'm just making sure that everyone stays put."

No one was willing to argue that one. Still, burning it might have been a little extreme.

--

In a park not too far away, Teken was on the move. He'd left Hinata back at the 5th where she was showing off her new baby tiger to everyone. There was more important business to be had. Zengyi had been sighted in the living world somewherre around here just a few minutes ago, and word on the street was that this guy was really strong. Based on the rumors, a good fight couldn't be too far away for anyone lucky enough to find the man. As a former taicho, this Zengyi guy would probably fight him face to face rather than run like so many others did nowadays. It was going to be a lot of fun.

--

Sorry for the wait. I just started college, so things have been busy.


	7. The hunt's end

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. I don't own the Ocs owned by Kermit's sister, jhard 53, Leylalune SingingSun, Pandaemonium Inuzaka, dark 672, kiryu kensei, Wisdom-Jewel, and youko pazu.

To Leylalune SingingSun and Pandemonium Inuzaka, I need a name for your ocs' zanpakutos or a pair of releases that have something to match and call a name before either character will see serious battle. To Leylalune, hair color would also be appreciated.

For those who don't know, kamas are blade locking weapons, each consisting of a short pole around one and a half feet long with a curved blade at the end. If you're having trouble imagining it, think a pair of short sickles.

On another note, I will be opening up three spots on the council of 46. Each person may submit only one of these. Now, on with the story.

--

Teken continued his search around Karakura town for Zengyi. It wasn't like he wanted to kill the guy, just have a good fight. From the rumor mill, Kinshiro was mortified when he found out that they were going after Zengyi, so he must be strong. Shrimp or not, even he knew that the taicho of the 3rd didn't get his rank for nothing. Even if he'd never seen the shrimp fight, he had definitely heard stories, felt the reiatsu this morning and had seen Kinshiro's infamous "vastrolorde-in-a-jar." It might have been just a jar on the outside, but the screams of pain were very real. They told a story all by themselves. He took a left, following the reiatsu, but what little was there was gone the moment he took a step. This guy was really bent on avoiding a fight.

"What? He's gone!" Teken stomped angrily. It just wasn't possible. After three hours of hard work, he was NOT going to be cheated out of his fight. The sun had set already, and once night fell, finding someone like that who didn't want to be found was unlikely.

"You want a fight with me that bad, eh?"

Teken whirled around to see a tall man with a hooded shikashuho and a hunter green haori, and a large smile spread across his face. This had to be that Zengyi guy he'd been hearing so much about.

"You finally came out. Feel like having a fight?" Teken challenged.

"I suppose so if it'll make you stop pursuing me, but let's take this someplace away from the humans."

"Fair enough."

Zengyi shunpoed off towards a forested area outside Karakura Town with Teken close behind. Hopefully, they'd be out of earshot and sight. Interruptions to any fight were not welcome, be it humans or the other patrolling shinigami. The problem was that Zengyi just kept on going, and a certain someone began to get impatient.

"Stop running and fight me! We're perfectly far away enough!"

The complaints were completely ignored. Speeding up enough to get in front of Zengyi, Teken brought his zanpakuto down. It wasn't like he was going to strike from the back. That just wouldn't be fair, and he despised cheapness, cheating, and anything of the like. To his surprise, Zengyi just grabbed his blade, stopping it with one hand and pushed it aside almost as though he was bored. It was an insult.

"You are not ready to fight me."

"Just shut up and fight! Curse the heavens, Raiko!" Teken shouted. Let that fool try to grab his blades now.

Zengyi leapt back to avoid getting burned as Teken's zanpakuto lit up in a flash of flame and split into a pair of chisa katana. The right one was swung down with tremendous force, sending out a shockwave and a trail of flame. Zengyi leapt into the nearest tree, dodging the flashes of fire and, analyzing his opponent's attack patterns. Despite having two weapons, ten slashes had gone by using the right blade exclusively. It wasn't too surprising as it was as large as a two handed broadsword, just as much of a crushing weapon as it was a cutting one. More than anything else, it was a weapon for mowing down opponents. The left, a normal katana, was always held in a defensive position. It was fairly powerful but also had a few glaring weak points.

"Find solace in the darkness, Kage no Ou!"

As Zengyi drew his obsidian colored zanpakuto, it shifted to become a pair of kamas. With a succession of quick shunpo, he darted around Teken, dealing out numerous shallow cuts. Teken planted Raiko into the ground, causing a pillar of flame to shoot up around him. Leaping back, Zengyi escaped with only a few small burns. For some reason, Teken was beginning to feel drained. It was rather odd, seeing as he normally wouldn't have even broken a sweat yet. Little cuts like this were nothing more than an annoyance.

"Every time Kage no Ou cuts you, it steals a little of your reiatsu and your energy. You should be feeling pretty sleepy by now," Zengyi explained. Then the wave of drowsiness hit. Angry at the situation, Teken spun his twin chisa katana around, shooting out a torrent of flame that incinerated all the nearby trees and charred the ground black.

"Now you've got nowhere to hide! Come fight me like a man!" Teken shouted angrily. To his surprise, his opponent just stopped in front of him in an almost mocking manner. Without thinking, he swung down with his right blade. The strike was blocked by crossed kamas and locked in between them. Sensing an opening, he struck with his smaller yet still deadly left katana. Zengyi shifted his grip, bringing out his right kama just enough to catch Teken's blade and lock it along with the other. Then he brought his hands together, resealed his zanpakuto and concentrated his reiatsu in his left hand. Then he swiped it over his face. Most of it was still hidden by the hood, but what was there was blaringly obvious. Having donned his mask, Zengyi blasted his opponent back with sheer overwhelming strength. After a flurry of undefended attacks, it was over. Teken collapsed in a heap on the ground with a huge gash across his chest and numerous smaller cuts all over his body. Though he was hardly in danger of dying, there was no arguing the fact that he was a bloody mess.

"I told you before. You're not ready to fight me."

The mask dissolved in a wisp of black reiatsu, and Zengyi was gone. Teken cursed his weakness. He'd not only been beaten, but he'd also been manhandled. No wonder Kinshiro kept on saying that they'd committed suicide. This guy was crazy. He must have known by now that the Gotei 13 wanted to apprehend him. If he left a taicho alive when he had the chance to just be rid of one, just how much thunder could he possibly have in reserve? The thought was scary. Oh well, leaving him alive was a mistake. He might not have been able to put it into effect then, but he was pretty sure he knew how to stop those annoying kamas from stealing his reiatsu next time. The mask still presented a problem, but that would just serve to make the next fight interesting. For now, the next thing on his to do list would be to hone his high speed fighting. Since he had been outclassed in speed, he had been at a disadvantage right from the start. There was no way his flames would have ever made contact if he always fired from the same spot. From his spot on the ground, he heard footsteps.

"My, my, my, you seem to have found quite a bit of trouble."

Teken looked up to see Morpheus standing over him.

"You were there the whole time, weren't you?" Teken accused, somewhat annoyed. The latter shrugged and dragged him off back to the 4th to recover.

"If I had stepped in, you might not have had your chance for a rematch." Morpheus defended.

"Yeah… I guess so… but I think I know how to beat him this time."

"Really, now?"

Teken smiled. They would have their rematch, and the next time would be very different. It was all he could think about. He didn't gripe about losing. He didn't complain when Leylalune put him back together with numerous stitches. He didn't even complain when he was confined to the bed for a week to rest and recover the blood he'd lost during the fight. All that ran through his head was the thought of next time, a grand rematch.

--

Back in the Seireitei, Kinshiro was happily watering his now very well defended bonsai garden. Humming a tune to himself, he moved from plant to plant. A few minutes ago, one had come past the danger signs posted up around the garden in an attempt to question him. The poor underling was frozen, burned, drenched, electrocuted, mashed into the ground, and blown across the horizon… or more precisely to the front of the 4th division compound. Since then, the 2nd had given up trying. All was well again.

"Good morning, Kinshiro."

Kinshiro whirled around, ready to kill whoever had managed to make it past his garden's barrier. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was only Raven and not someone bent on ruining his morning.

"You know, you need to ease up a bit. If I hadn't been paying attention, your barrier would have killed me," Raven commented.

"Well, it was designed to beat someone within an inch of their life, and then send them flying in the door to the 4th so they could get proper treatment."

"You seem unusually happy. Why is that?"

Kinshiro stopped humming and thought about it. Why was he happy anyway? It didn't take him long to come up with an answer. They were still probably about to go to war, but that wasn't going to ruin a day that was going so well so far.

"Let's see. I've been told that Zengyi is still alive after all this time. I had my tea this morning. I dodged the 2nd and their interrogation. Teken can't bother me for a whole week since he's confined to his bed in the 4th. And on top of that, my turn for Pandemonium's pandemonium doesn't come for another five days! Today has been great!" Kinshiro cheered, dancing around. A little weirded out, Raven took his leave and walked out of the bonsai garden.

"I guess you already heard last night's news. Bye, then."

"Bye- Wait! The barrier is-" Kinshiro started.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"

"Two-way," Kinshiro finished a little too late.

Raven could only scream in pain as he was beaten within an inch of his life and hurled right in the front door of the 4th division compound. The rug was so unkind and unforgiving when someone skidded across it face first. Man, his face hurt. On top of that, his arms hurt… and his legs… and his back. Who was he kidding? That thing was more of a circle of death than a barrier. Barriers were only supposed to keep things out, not kill them. He closed his eyes, tuning out the screeches of his zanpakuto. Recently he'd been doing such a good job of not making them look stupid up until now too. Leylalune looked on and shook her head. That would be the fourth one so far, and it probably wouldn't be the last. Raven felt himself being dragged onto a stretcher. Kinshiro might be crazy at times, but he was still considerate. At least the quincys got his warning. If he hadn't gotten there in time, they would probably be gone by tomorrow morning.

--


End file.
